Hi out there! With all that’s happened this year, it’s hard to believe we’re here at reflection time. This year my resolution was "preparations" for my heart and for my pockets for what unknowns are to come in the next couple years. And while it has been a hunkering down kind of year, it has been a surprisingly easy hike albeit with a couple steep inclines every couple months. We’ve had so much movement, so many celebrations, and so much work! It’s been a test of our capacities, both physical and mental, both creative and logical, and I think that this time of looking back has got me feeling good about what we were able to accomplish in a year.
This year has been packed with movement!
From new homes for us, my parents, brother, sister, and many of our friends, "movement" feels like a good and unexpected theme for this year. Although saying goodbye to our LA home was saddening, our beach city home was just what we needed to do “more” in our lives, but it has taken some time to get used to and thankfully, friends who have visited, met up with us for in-between life moments, and invited us to their new homes have made this new place feel more like our refuge in the busy-ness of everything else.
Some highlights:
Disneyland with friends (thanks Lisa Ann!)
Appa finally graduates with his masters in DAcHM
Summer camp trip with friends
Yuna got married! <3
Mini-vacay to San Diego (thanks Yuna!)
Danielle and Gon's wedding and Hillary staying over and being a Cali girl with us for 2 weekends.
Visiting Esther in Norcal and meeting Steve
Celebrating Ling and David's wedding (neighbors from LA)
Jesse's birthday BBQ at our new place
Reuniting with cousins
Hawaiian meal Thanksgiving
Finally finding out that Hof's Hut is in fact not a Hawaiian restaurant like Jesse thought.
One significant change this year comes in the form of a sweet furry friend! The story is: I finally mustered up the courage to say yes to adopting a dog this year. The question that spurred it was “if not now, when?” and I realized the only thing that was stopping us was my fear. The timing couldn't have been better, so I thought what better a bday gift for Jesse, than saying “yes, let’s adopt him”.
I finally caught covid this July. It was terrible. But as you can see, I took it like a baller, as evidenced by this photo Jesse took of me while I was asleep. He promises that the hat just fell on me like that and he did not stage it haha!
Many of us turned 30 this year, so of course, there were celebrations to be had. It’s interesting to see and discuss all the different approaches and feelings towards marking this milestone. What I’ve concluded is that it’s so nice to not be alone in this life and that with each new unknown we walk into, I’ll be able to conquer it alongside my community.
It was an honor to have my "Maedup Arrangements" series showing in full at Fullerton Museum Center this year. I was able to share the heart behind my work on opening night and in the preparation process, got to connect with my parents as I was asked to translate my work in Korean. It was a really redeeming experience to hear feedback from my parents that the understand and are proud of what I have created about my identity as a Korean American woman. Some other things I was able to do this year were:
Host an After Hours Art Chat online <3
Participate, lead the wish lantern booth, and coordinate fine art booths at this year's Roar Korean Festival in Fullerton.
I learned how to make paper cranes (I know I am like 20 years late) so I've been on my journey to create 1000 and make my wish.
More time for doodling at the beach while Jesse goes surfing.
Our work for Sincerely Harveys has hit an all time high this year. We’ve had 11 events, several smaller projects, and I’ve even coordinated a wedding this year! I got to work again with Yellow&Lace on live art events and connected with Maison Blanche to provide illustrations for an even larger audience of couples getting married and it's been just a dream working with Christen.
Jesse has really adopted my busy-body spirit this year. Along with his usual projects, working at the Getty Museum, and going to school, Jesse has been building out his woodshop and making bigger things like custom record player cabinet and an entire custom designed kitchen cabinet and pantry! It is really fun to see how much he has evolved since I first met him at Trader Joes. And while both being busy creatives can get difficult at times, I am just so proud of him and his determination to make things happen!
